Cigarette-box.



J. R. W. MENGER.

CIGARETTE BOX.

APPLICATION FILED 213.15, 1911.

Patented June 11, 1912.

JOSEPH R. W. MERGER, OF UNION HILL, NEW JERSEY.

CIGARETTE-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1912.

Application filed February 15, 1911. Serial No. 608,762.

To all whom it may concern;

lle it known that l. Jossrn R. V. MEN- uuu, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Union Hill, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invcntcd certain new and useful Improvements in Cigarette-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to packages for holding cigarettes and the object of my invention is to provide a box for holding cigarettes in which is hinged at one side a flexible strip of material, such as paper or cloth, to which is fastened a plurality of matches r for use in lighting the cigarettes.

A further object is to provide the box with a, hinged cover and the matches of a certain length relative to the width of the cover, so that they will cooperate together when the cover is opened, to carry the matches with the cover from above the cigarettes.

A further object is to release the matches from engagement with the cover by moving the cover to a certain position.

A further objectis to prevent the match heads from coming in contact with the cigarettes in the box.

Referring tot-he drawings which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a box embodying my invention, shown with the cover open and the matches released from engagement therewith. Fig. 2 is a view shown partly in cross section and illustrating the relative positions of the matches, cover, and protecting sheet. Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the position of the cover and matches just before the matches are released from engagement with the cover.

A, indicates the box which is usually made of paste-board and is provided with a cover B, which is hinged about half way the height of the box across the back atthe point C.

l) and D indicate two strips ofpaper or other flexible material which are pasted together to the back of the box at E and extending the length thereof.

F, indicates a row of matches, the body of which are preferably made of paper material and the heads of which are formed of material to provide the so-called safety match. Thcbutt ends of the matches are held between the upper edges of the elements D and D by cementing the said elements to the matches as will be readily understood.

In order to break the matches from the strip D, the matches are.scored as indicated by the dottedline G, so that the match may be broken easily from the strip D and when broken therefrom they may be ignited by scratching them on the prepared surface H, which I may place on the outside of the cover as illustrated in Fig. 2, or on the inside thereof if preferred. A sheet of paper I is also fastened at one edge to the back of the box as illustrated and extends across the box, so that its outer edge rests under the match heads F to prevent them from coming in contact with the surface of the cigarettes. An advertisement maybe printed on the lower side of the sheet I if desired.

When the lid of the box is forced down in its closed position as shown in Fig. 2, the ends of the match heads rest above the edge of the box as illustrated at J, being forced there in the act of closing the box with the cover. In the act of opening the cover to the position shown in Fig. 3, the match heads engage with the inner surface thereof and due to the hinge of the cover being located at K, whereas the hinge of the elements D and D is located at L, the cover and matches on swinging on their respective hinges cause the match heads F to firmly engage with the cover as illustrated in Fig. 3 and as the cover is swung to the position shown, the matches are carried by friction with same. After the cigarette has been removed from the box, the cover is thrown farther back in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, in which position the match heads are released from engagement with the cover and thrown forward into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, when the match can be broken along the scored line G and ignited on the surface II to light the cigarette. By this arrangement a suflicient number of matches can be carried in the box to light all of the cigarettes contained therein and on account of the small room required for storing them, they can be attached to the boxes of the size usually made for holding the cigarettes without increasing the size. since the matches are very thin and preferably made with flat sides as illustrated. The body of the matches at their edges are also cemented together, so that they may be moved in unison and prevented from assuming different relative positions. By reason of the sheet I being connected to the box at one edge, the sheet is not easily lost and the advertisement carried thereby is therefore constantly before the eye of the user, each time he selects a cigarette therefrom.

Having thus described my I claim is: w v

1. A cigarette box provided with a cover hinged thereto below the top thereof and a row of matches hinged to said box at one invention what 7 side thereof and contacting with said cover and arranged to be raised therewith in the act of raising the cover from the box, but normally disconnected from the cover and exposed to permitthem to be grasped without touching either the box or cover, substantially as set forth.

matches extending entirely across the'box to the opposite edge thereof and arranged to be engaged by the cover and to be raised therewith in the act of raising the cover from the box, substantially asset forth.

Signed at New York clty, in the county of New York and State of New York this 14th day of February A. D. 1911.

JOSEPH R. W. MENGER.

Witnesses:

FRANK M. ASHLEY, MI'NNIE S. MILLER. 

